Vim cc equivalent (replace line content)

[xJonathanLEI]

I tried searching but couldn't find anything relevant. Basically what I'm looking for is the same thing as cc and S in Vim:

["x]cc: Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start insert linewise. If 'autoindent' is on, preserve the indent of the first line.

This is useful when I want to rewrite the whole line. The closest alternative in Helix that I'm aware of is X_c, which selects the line (including EOL), shrinks the selection to trim whitespaces, and replace. However this has drawbacks:

• it's much harder to press compared to cc or even S (solvable thru remapping, but not user friendly)
• it doesn't work on empty lines - the shrinking part doesn't work and the whole line is deleted instead.

[the-mikedavis]

There's some prior discussion in the discussions tab:

#2783
#4225

You can emulate it by creating a binding for ["goto_line_start", "select_mode", "goto_line_end", "change_selection"]

[xJonathanLEI]

But this wouldn't work for empty lines right? This would just delete the line before turning into insert mode.

[xJonathanLEI]

Just tested and can confirm it doesn't work on empty lines. The line gets deletes because helix always selects the EOL character when the line is empty. So we still don't have an exact equivalent of cc: something that I can use to rewrite the line without having to think about whether the line is empty or not.

[dimas-cyriaco]

I think this would work:

c = { c = ["extend_to_line_bounds", "trim_selections", "change_selection"] }

[ksandvik]

Tested c = { c = ["extend_to_line_bounds", "trim_selections", "change_selection"] } - works on empty lines, at least for me.

[xJonathanLEI]

Hmm for by "empty" I meant really empty lines. The ones with whitespaces don't count.

I think this is really the same as X_c: it deletes the line and put cursor on the start of next line instead.

[ksandvik]

Yes, my mistake, the intent was to start typing on an empty line, then again in those cases isn't 'i' the intended command?

[xJonathanLEI]

Yes, i would work, but:

• Now I have to think about whether I'm rewriting an empty line or not, which is a little bit of extra mental overhead - not as good as cc which always just works.

• If you do cc in vim, even on an empty line, it clears the line and puts your cursor on the appropriate indentation. Pressing i on an empty line does not.

[dimas-cyriaco]

But this wouldn't work for empty lines right? This would just delete the line before turning into insert mode.

Sorry, I didn't test this scenario. It does not work on empty lines. It deletes the whole line.

[xJonathanLEI]

If we confirm there's currently no way to actually do the same as cc or S, can we add a command for it? Should be very easy to implement if we ignore the auto-indent thing for now. Would like to know the maintainers' thoughts on this. Thanks! @the-mikedavis

In any case, I will implement this on my own fork and start using it. Maybe I should just open the PR regardless? Not sure if unsolicited PRs are considered too annoying here though.

[the-mikedavis]

I don't think there's a way to implement this that respects the select-then-act paradigm because of the behavior on an empty line. Breaking select-then-act for vim compatibility is very distasteful IMO.

[xJonathanLEI]

It's not for "vim compatability" though. The vim feature solves a real problem, and it's for solving that same problem.

But I guess that's a no then. I think it's a bit unfortunate though.

[rumpelsepp]

I am experimenting with X_dO, seems to work. Currently I am trying to assign this to L. Wish me luck. :D

edit:

I came up with:

[keys.normal]
L = ["extend_to_line_bounds", "delete_selection_noyank", "open_above"]

[xJonathanLEI]

That's the same thing I eventually came up with (but didn't post here) lol. The good news is the team seems to be going to change c to not remove EOL if the whole line is selected. What constitues a "whole line" is unclear but this would probably make "replace line" usable without remapping.

[rumpelsepp]

But it wouldn't handle proper indenting, would it? The open_above thing indents the cursor if needed, that's what cc in vim does as well.